Blinded
by ManateeFace
Summary: She had been blinded by her supposed "love" for her precious "Sasuke-kun". Naruto tells Sakura about the Kyuubi. NaruSaku friendship. R&R. If I owned anything I wouldn't be writing this. XD
1. Revelation

Sakura counted down under her breath as she stared down the wooden door of Naruto's apartment. She heard keys jingle, and Naruto whistling to himself as he jimmied the lock on his door. It creaked open and a hand reached in and switched the light on.

"Surprise!" a chorus of voices greeted his arrival.

Naruto was holding a kunai to the throat of the person who was in front of him in a quick motion. It only took him a second before he realized his mistake, seeing that Sakura would most definitely not be out to kill him. Upon realizing this, he dropped the kunai and looked around his apartment. All his friends, even Teuchi and Ayame from Ichiraku Ramen stand were there, looking at him funny because of his uncalled for reaction.

"Ah...erm...ah," he stuttered before Sakura hit him on the head, lightly.

"You idiot!"she yelled. "We're throwing you a party, not trying to kill you!"

The atmosphere generally loosened up at that statement. Many people laughed slightly nervously and struck up conversations with each other as Naruto rubbed his head sheepishly.

"Ah...yeah...erm...I knew...that..?" His face flushed.

Sakura sighed and Naruto knew he was forgiven. He grinned his trademark grin at her and said, "Well, let's get this party started then!"

Sakura inwardly facepalmed at the cheesy statement but instead just shook her head and led Naruto around. Many people waved at Naruto and wished him a happy birthday. It took them all of ten minutes just to reach the snack table. It was elaborately set up with food, with a large orange-frosted cake with the symbol for Konoha frosted in the middle. There they found Kakashi and Jiraiya in a deep discussion about who knows what. The only words Sakura and Naruto caught were, "...Kyuubi... acting strange.. seal," before they got abruptly cut off by Naruto's loud yell of,

"Ero-sennin! I thought you were on a mission in the Tea country?"

"Well, I was, but I just managed to get back to Konoha in time for your birthday!" Jiraiya said, discounting the nickname his apprentice had used for him.

"I...erm... kinda forgot it was my birthday today," Naruto said, scratching his head sheepishly once again. He had not actually forgotten, as it was also the day the nine tailed demon fox had attacked Konoha. Because of the unfortunate event that the demon had been sealed into _him _that night, many villagers believed he was the fox and had been torturing him all day. It would never be easy for Naruto Uzumaki to forget his birthday.

_ He did WHAT?! How can you for get that it's your birthday? _Sakura fumed to herself._ We went through all this trouble for this? _Naruto's loud voice jarred her back into focus,

"But this is awesome! Thanks, guys!" Naruto's whiskered face was set in a sincere grin.

_Wait, whiskered?Hmm... I've never given much thought to why Naruto has those six whisker-like strokes so artistically marked on his cheeks. Are they tattoos? No, Naruto would never get a tattoo, much less six. Does he paint them on? No, I know for a fact that Naruto has no artistic talent whatsoever, so he would never be able to paint six perfect lines in the exact same place on his face every morning. _Sakura ran through quite a few scenarios in her mind, but pushed the thoughts to the back of her head when she saw that Naruto was waving a hand in front of her face. Sakura blinked a couple of times and blushed, seeing Jiraiya, Naruto, and Kakashi all staring at her.

"Sakura? Hello? Anyone home?"

"Huh? Sorry, I kinda spaced out for a sec."

"Yeah, you did! You were staring off with a weird look on your face. Anything wrong?"he asked, looking concerned.

"No, I'm okay,"Sakura forced a smile and thought to herself, _I guess I'll try to figure out the mystery of his "whiskers" later._

"So, how about you two go join the party and enjoy yourselves," Jiraiya said.

"Great idea, Ero-sennin!"

Jiraiya inwardly cringed at his apprentice's nickname for him,but let it slide this one more time. _'Let the kid enjoy his birthday party.'_

Sakura lead Naruto through the crowd by the wrist, searching for someone to talk to. There was music in the background and people everywhere. Naruto must be more popular than he thought.

"Hey, Naruto? What do you think that Jiraiya and Kakashi- sensei were talking about before we interrupted them?"Sakura said, elbowing the hyperactive ninja to get his attention..

Naruto instantly paled and pointedly looked in a different direction before answering, "Uh...I have no idea."

Sakura noticed his peculiar behavior but decided not to address it, instead changing the subject completely, "What do you think of your party so far, Naruto?"

Naruto's face instantly lit up, like she had just given him a free bowl of ramen.

"It's great!"he said, excited. "Though it is kind of loud," he added, almost as an afterthought.

"Konoha's number one most hyperactive ninja, not liking noise? Who are you and what have you done with Naruto?"Sakura jokingly said, rather yelled than said, over aforementioned noise.

"How about we go into my bedroom to get away from it. Would you mind that Sakura-chan?"

"Why don't you just call me Sakura, as I just call you Naruto."

"So is that a yes, Sakura?

"I guess so."

The two maneuvered surprisingly quickly through the thick crowds,before finally reaching a door of which Sakura presumed lead to Naruto's room.

"After you, my lady," Naruto said mockingly as he held the door open for her.

Sakura giggled very slightly and stepped inside, Naruto following right behind her. They both sat down on Naruto's bed, Sakura cringing slightly at the neon orange bedspread.

Sakura's eyes traveled over Naruto's room. It wasn't as messy as the rest of the house, surprisingly. Sure, it had its fair share of clutter, but it relatively surprised Sakura how clean it was. After its quick sweep over the blonde's room, Sakura's gaze settled on said blonde's face.

Oceanic blue eyes, trademark grin, leaf headband, and last but not least, those _whiskers_! Sakura made up her mind then and there that she would ask Naruto about them tonight, if not tonight, then tomorrow.

"Sakura-cha-Sakura?" Naruto asked somewhat timidly, stuttering as he tried not to use the suffix. Sakura frowned since the loudmouth blonde was never shy.

"Umm... well, you were looking at me funny." Naruto quietly stated.

Sakura blushed, realizing that she had been staring at him, but then her face turned stony.

"Naruto I'm going to ask you a question and I want you to answer it honestly, no if's, and's, or but's about it."

"Anything, Sakura-chan!" Naruto's face brightened up considerably. Sakura sighed at the added honorific, but didn't mention it.

"Naruto," she began, "Why do you have those whisker-like marks on your face?"

His once jubilant smile slid off his face like molasses. Sakura even felt a little bit guilty about making him feel this way, but curiosity got the better of her and she quickly shook the feeling off. How bad could his reason really be?

The silence was tense. Naruto's face looked panic-stricken and Sakura idly wondered why such a simple question had caused him so much grief. A little worm of guilt squirmed into her heart once more, and this time she couldn't shake it off.

"Na...ru...to?" Sakura asked, trying to break the awkward silence that had fallen on them. Naruto, though, seemed to be lost in his own mind, though, in fact that was exactly what was going on. Naruto was having a conversation with the Kyuubi in his head. You see, the relationship between the fox and the blonde had become more of a master and pupil as soon as the Kyuubi had told Naruto about being forced to attack Konoha by none other than Madara Uchiha himself. The demon fox was still bloodthirsty and strived to get free, but looked fondly upon his jailor now, looking in Naruto's best interests.

"**Kid, she may end up hating you, but if you don't tell her about me now, and she ends up finding out on her own, she'll most likely hate you even more because you kept such a huge secret from her." **The fox demon's monstrous eyes gleamed from behind the gigantic bars.

_"I see what you mean. But what if she does hate me? What if she sees me as a monster?"_

_ "_**If she can't see past the fact that you contain me inside of you, then she's definitely not worth your time anyways. She'd just be like another one of those horrible villag-"**

_"She's not like that! She's so much smarter than one of them," _Naruto retorted, angry that the fox would condemn Sakura without knowing her.

**"Did I ever say she was? If she's so much better than them, then what've you got to lose?"**

_ "I guess you're right then. But I'm still worried; if she sees me as a monster then I won't be able to live with myself. She's my.. best friend. What if I was wrong? What if she is just like one of them? What will I be able to do to convin-"_

Naruto's whining what-if's were cut off, **"Just stop. You were so sure just a second ago that she could have no faults. You either go for it now or keep lying to her for the rest of your sad little life."**

_"Thanks Kyuubi. I think I'll tell her." _

Naruto took a deep breath and left the sewer-like subconsciousness of his mind, the giant chamber and glowing red eyes behind bars fading slowly away.

"Naruto?" Sakura tried once again. When he didn't answer she gave him a light slap to the face. "Naruto!"she said fiercely.

"Wh-what?" Naruto shakily asked.

"Answer me!"

"Well, uh, erm, what was the question again?" he managed to squeak out, his voice getting dangerously high-pitched at the end.

"Naruto, you baka, you know perfectly well what the question was, now I want some answers!" Sakura growled at him.

Naruto hurriedly nodded his head and started talking. He was determined to tell her the truth now. "Well, erm, uh, You know when the Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked Konoha, Sakura-chan?" Sakura nodded, wondering how this had anything to do with Naruto's whiskers, or if maybe he was trying to change the subject by saying something completely off topic. "So, the Yondaime defeated him right?"Sakura nodded so he continued, "Wrong. A Biju, as an immortal, cannot die, so the 4th had to use an old forbidden jutsu. That jutsu could be used to seal it into an infant, as it cannot be sealed into an adult because a newly born child's chakra coils are not fully developed yet and can accept the new chakra without being killed. It so happened that on that fateful night his wife had given birth to his child, and, in doing so, dying. He sealed the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the most powerful of all the tailed beasts, into his first born child. That was how he died."

"I was an infant around the time of that attack," Sakura began thoughtfully, "So that means that this jinchuriki is our age! I wonder who it is?" she said, not yet catching on.

Then it all clicked as Naruto said just two simple words that were so quiet she barely caught them as they escaped his mouth, "I am."

Her emerald eyes widened. That explained everything. Well, except for his inexplicable love for ramen. It explained his unimaginable amounts of stamina and his over jonin level amounts of chakra, even the mysterious red chakra that sometimes surrounded him while fighting. It also explained why everyone hated him. The elders and older jonin speaking badly about him, mercilessly beating him sometimes. Why other kids were mean to him back in the academy days, making fun of him, hurting him even. Sakura had always thought it was because of the pranks he had pulled back then, now she realized those pranks had been cries for help. The one thing that hadn't made sense to her back then was why many villagers and kids would call him "demon" or "fox brat", not that Sakura had cared back then, when she had been obsessed with her precious "Sasuke- kun". Well where had that obsession gotten her? Nowhere, it just gave her a buttload of depression when Sasuke abandoned Konoha and left her lying unconscious on a stone bench in the middle of the night.

It also explained why he had had no friends. She had been there through all of that. If only she had reached out to him, comforted him, become his friend. Instead she had shunned him like all the rest, blinded by her supposed "love" for the Uchiha, too obsessed with becoming popular to see the lonely little boy crying on the swing set, obviously wanting nothing more, nothing less, than a friend. Yes, back then, she was blinded.

But Naruto had forgiven them all, given them second, third, maybe even hundreds of chances and she had just ruined it. Sakura felt her eyes stinging but quickly rubbed them before Naruto could see.

Sakura looked up from the bed spread where she had been absentmindedly playing with a stray piece of fuzz.

Naruto looked timid, scared, fearful even. He looked at Sakura like she was going to yell at him, hit him again. Would she think of him as a monster now?

Sakura raised her arm slightly and Naruto flinched, thinking she was going to hit him, but instead she enveloped him in a friendly, comforting hug.

"Don't worry Naruto-baka I would never hate you for something sealed inside of you," she whispered in his ear.

She felt his tense body slowly relax as she let go of the friendly embrace.

"So, do those whiskers of yours do anything?" Sakura inquired, all tension and awkwardness gone from the air.

"I dunno exactly what they do, 'cause I've never been awake to find out. As soon as they get touched, just brushed on, it's like some sort of electric shock goes over me and I fall unconscious. When I wake up I usually find myself surrounded by a state of total destruction. I would never want you near me when it goes down- what if something happened to you? I would never be able to forgive myself. Pretty crazy, but at least I've never killed anyone. Kyuubi won't tell me what happens, though."

"Wait- you can _talk_ to that thing?!"

"Yeah, sometimes it shows me into my mind where it's kept and talks to me, though that's mainly in life or death situations."

"Naruto, would you mind going to the training grounds with me after the party and seeing what happens when your whiskers get touched? I think I can handle myself against you," she said, sticking her tongue out at him.

"I don't know.. What if something happened?"

"C'mon, Naruto! It would be exciting and you would finally understand what happens to you, no matter what that old fox thinks you should know."

"Su-sure,"Naruto was still kind of working with the fact that he had told Sakura about the Kyuubi and she didn't hate him, not even in the least bit."

"C'mon, knucklehead, let's go get some cake."

"Ooh! Ooh! Is it ramen flavored ?"

Sakura made a face and gave him a look that plainly said, "Are you _serious_?!"

"I was just kidding!" Naruto grinned sheepishly and gave a nervous laugh.

_llllllllllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllllllllllllll lllllllll_

** End of Chapter Number one!**

** Like it? Hate it? Review and say it! That sounded stupid... but it rhymed, sorta. I'm looking forward to reviews 'cause I don't know if this is any good. This is my first Naruto fic and second fic in general. Hopefully I'll have the second chapter up in a few weeks, I'm not really good with timing, so let's hope for the best! Comments , compliments, and constructive criticism are appreciated.**

** -ManateeFace **


	2. What Happens?

** Yay! A new chapter! I was up all night writing this. (in a notebook) Sorry sorry sorry it took so long! First I had writers block, then I went to another state for a week and a half, then I had more writers block! A couple nights ago I was hit with a burst of inspiration and decided to write more, yay me! :) SORRY SORRY SORRY I LIED AND SAID I WOULD UPDATE IN A FEW WEEKS! :( hope you enjoy this**

The full moon illuminated the almost deserted training area, casting light on two figures strolling casually into the area. When the figures, now revealed to be our favorite pink- haired girl and blonde-could-also-be-described-as-yellow haired boy, reached three tall wooden posts, they stopped.

Sakura mused silently as the posts brought back memories of when team seven had just graduated to genin level, memories of Naruto being tied to the middle post. She couldn't suppress the the laugh that she let out.

Naruto looked at her funny, "What? Did I do something?"

"No, it's just...memories," she said with a smirk.

"Hey! I was stupid back then!" he said indignantly, leaning back against one of the posts.

"Ack!" he fell backwards, slipping off the wet post into a patch of mud, as if he had been trying to prove Sakura's point.

He sat up, smoothing out his now mud streaked hair, muttering something barely incomprehensible, though most likely it was a string of curse words, so maybe we should be glad it wasn't heard.

Sakura couldn't help herself, she erupted into laughter. Full blown laughter. Eventually she began gasping for breath.

"You," she said between pants, "are _such_ a baka."

The now mud-caked Naruto stood up and crossed his arms, putting on a pouting face. Sakura finally stopped laughing and put on a -mostly- serious face. Naruto followed suit.

"So, back to what we actually came here for," Sakura said. "You ready?"

Naruto nodded firmly, his expression one of slight nervousness, or unease. Sakura reached out and gently stroked one of Naruto's whiskers.

Naruto closed his eyes and waited for something to happen. As Sakura kept running her fingers along his whiskers he only experienced a … tickling sensation.

"St-stop it Sakura-chan! That t-tickles!" he said, falling to the ground as she attacked him with whisker-tickling.

She was so absorbed in her assault that she only then noticed the blood-red chakra leaking out of his skin.

"N-Naruto?" she said, her voice trembling slightly.

"Wha-" his eyes suddenly rolled back into his head and he fell unconscious.

About an inch layer of the crimson chakra had enveloped him by now. Sakura watched, stunned, as his canine teeth slowly elongated, leaving him with two inch-long , razor sharp teeth. His whiskers thickened so as of now they were only a few centimeters apart. His fingernails lengthened and sharpened immensely, him looking rather Kyuubi- esque.

Sakura couldn't help herself, she let out a shrill, rather un-shinobi-like high pitched scream.

"Naruto!" she yelled at him, her reflexes taking over as she slapped him. She instantly pulled back her hand, though, turning it over to see a large blistering red mark. Of course! The Kyuubi's chakra! She made a mental note not to touch it if possible.

The feral looking Naruto abruptly crouched on all fours, causing Sakura to scoot backwards. The kunoichi then noticed one bubbling orangish red tail coming from the blonde. As she inspected it closer Sakura realized the tail was made out of chakra, pure, undiluted, concentrated chakra.

She gasped. Naruto's head snapped towards her so fast it wasn't normally humanly possible.

The Kyuubi-Naruto let out a roar reminiscent of a lion and charged at her. Without all of Sakura's training as a kunoichi, she would've been dead. She darted into the underbrush. A small crater had formed where Naruto's chakra cloaked hand had come down, the exact spot where Sakura had been just milliseconds before.

She drew in a sharp intake of breath. More of the bubbling lava-like chakra was forming another tail. Sakura knew she had to stop it, but how? She couldn't touch him, and she doubted something as simple as a kunai would be able to get through his chakra induced coat. If a kunai couldn't pierce it, then neither could her shuriken or senbon. She had received a poisoned senbon that could stop all chakra flow throughout the body on contact with the skin. That would be effective only if there was and opening in the chakra cloaking Naruto's body.

Suddenly the said blonde looked straight at her. Sakura let out a gasp once more. Only bloodline traitslike the sharingan or the byakugan should be able to detect her!

_'Maybe the Kyuubi gave Naruto enhanced senses, like Kiba'_

Her assumption proved to be correct when she shifted her weight on the branch and Naruto's chakra "ears" turned towards her immediately upon the leaves slightly rustling.

Naruto let out another earsplitting roar and smashed his hands into the ground. Sakura quickly jumped to a safer hiding place where she was absolutely positive he couldn't see her, enhanced senses or no enhanced senses.

Sakura was shocked to say the least when a big chakra hand, or paw?, shot out of the ground right under her previous hiding spot, crushing the limb, and tree! Sakura couldn't help herself, she gawked. She had to finish this fast, or at least somehow get help! Naruto showed no signs of tiring, while she had been breathing so hard, she was surprised his enhanced hearing hadn't heard her yet, giving away her hiding place.

There were no openings in the chakra cloak, it seemed. If there were, the senbon Tsunade had given her, the poisoned one, would be perfect. Sakura knew she had to somehow get it in him.

By now the second tail had long since formed and a third had already begun to take shape. Sakura began to see that the chakra surrounding him was harming him, and droplets of blood were coming out and mixing with the chakra, turning it even more blood red than it already was. Just as quickly the peeled off skin was rehealing, though eventually the blood loss would become to much only the Kyuubi would remain, none of Naruto's protests being felt any more. Sakura had to get to it before then.

The pinkette decided to see what would happen to a kunai if directed at the coat like chakra formation, weighing out the problem of him locating her position with the possibility of valuable information. Her hand inched slowly towards her weapons pouch, as any sudden movements would attract the beast that was Naruto. She unsnapped it and reached in, feeling her hand close around a kunai. She threw it. Even with his enhanced senses, Naruto had no time to react as the kunai whizzed towards him.

The kunai stuck its target and went into the chakra, which quickly dissolved it,just as Sakura had expected it to. What she hadn't expected ,though, was for the tip of the kunai to reach his skin, for barely a millisecond. If she had blinked she would have missed it.

Sakura's mouth formed a small, perfect "o". It was just what she had needed. Just one senbon shot and it would all be over. She let out a barely audible sigh.

But now she needed to face the problem at hand. Obviously the kunai had given away her position, so she had to move. Probably the only reason she was still living was that Naruto had been surprised by her attack. She jumped out of the trees and into the clearing, the training area. Not a split second after the ground beneath where she had been exploded and Naruto's pair of chakra hands/paws shot out from the rubble.

Just as quickly, they started chasing after the kunoichi.

_'Darn, this isn't going to be as easy as I thought' _

She jumped closer, trying to get a better angle. By now three tails were thrashing about behind him. Sakura knew this was getting out of hand. Suddenly one of the tails smacked her, sending her sprawling across the ground.

This was all the opening Naruto needed. His chakra came onto her, coming faster than ever and slapped her, ramming her against one of the posts. Sakura got up and pulled the senbon out of her weapon pouch. Before she could even get into a fighting stance her feet were knocked out from underneath her by a chakra tail.

Naruto pulled his hands out of the ground. By now you couldn't even see his face, you could barely recognize him underneath all of that chakra. His three tails were slowly being joined by a fourth and Sakura knew she had to stop it. She had to end it then.

She got into a fighting stance and charged full speed at him, holding the senbon tightly at her side. She had no time to heal herself, this was life or death.

One more of the tails hit her, effectively knocking the wind out of her and causing a large scrape on her stomach to add to her numerous other scrapes and cuts. She now had burns covering most of her body and a deep gash that ran the length of her shin. She also sported many purple and black bruises in addition to all of that. In other words it hurt to lift a finger. She was no shinobi if she couldn't persevere.

As the next blow came, she was knocked off balance and was shoved towards Naruto. She was just able to shove the senbon into his chakra cloak before she was knocked into a tree. A couple rows of trees actually.

Sakura opened her eyes carefully. How was it possible for Naruto to still be moving? His chakra flow should've been disrupted as soon as the senbon pierced his body.

Naruto once more stuffed his hands into the earth and drove them over to where Sakura was laying. Sakura tried to get up but found she couldn't, judging by the pain and numbness in her leg she had broken it. And Naruto's attack was everything but slowing down, zooming towards her. At any given second, she would be either thrown up into the air or smash to bits against the trees. She shut her eyes and waited for impact.

Nothing came. Sakura peeled open her eyes and saw Naruto go rigid. Sakura actually let out a sigh of relief. The poison was taking effect. Finally.

All of the chakra began to recede into Naruto's body. Slowly the four tails dissipated.

It was all Sakura could do not to fall unconscious. Slowly she stumbled over to him, falling down every few steps she would take due to her broken leg and exhaustion.

Naruto's skin was bright red from the procedure. Not red as if he were blushing, but red red. Fire truck red. Neon.

Sakura managed a smile. She had finally done it!

Naruto's clothes were tattered but everywhere else on him was relatively unharmed thanks to the Kyuubi's fast healing. His clothes were also quite blood-stained. His skin was still bright red and it was questionable if it would heal faster or slower thanks to the Kyuubi. For now he was just lucky to be alive.

As was Sakura. She was slightly dizzy as she made her way over to him, fighting to stay conscious.

She finally reached the crumpled form of her teammate. She took one long, solemn look at him before she fell atop him, joining him in unconsciousness.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

**End of chapter two! Sorry again for the long update, but there it is! R&R thanks for reading!**


	3. Hospital

AHHHHHHH! A newchapter! This time I am so very sorry in saying... that this will be my last chapter in a while... Buuuttttt... That means I'll be updating at my usual pace! HA! Did you think I was going on hiatus..? Well, I'm noooottttttt! :P I love you guys for staying with my story even though my updating STINKS! I think the last time I updated was... half a year ago or something! Ah, oh well, I will _try _to update sooner, my writer's block is gone. YAY! On with Chappie number ThReE!

….****...****...****...

"Lady Tsunade! Lady Tsunade!" an out of breath chunin scrambled and skidded through the mazelike halls of the hokage tower.

He burst into her room. She looked up at him, ready to pummel him for bursting in on her "work"- a half empty bottle of sake was held in her hand. That soon faded to concerned as she saw the look on his face.

"What is it?" she demanded.

"An urgent message from the hospital staff! Earlier this morning two severely injured young ninja were brought in and sent straight to the emergency room. We need you, now!"

Tsunade's heart skipped a beat. Two young ninja? Naruto was the only one reckless enough to beout training late at night. But why the emergency room? And who was the other ninja with him? Surely there was a fight involved. She ran countless situations through her head as she leapt across rooftops to the hospital at breakneck speed.

"Descriptions of the patients?" she prompted the messenger.

"Well one of the patients was blonde, wearing a violently orange jumpsuit..."

_So it was Naruto. I wonder what happened? It wasn't Orochimaru or anything was it? Sasuke, maybe? That would explain the other ninja... _She shuddered a the thought and almost missed what he said next.

"...wearing a pink dress."

_A pink dress? Sakura!_ Tsunade picked up her pace (if possible) and jumped through the open window that was in the hallway connected with the emergency room. Sure enough, there were Naruto and Sakura inside.

The hokage almost sighed with relief when she saw them, not dead. Then she noticed what was going on around them. A nurse or two was on them at all times, checking heart rates and making sure they were both still breathing. At least three IVs were connected to each of them at one time and Naruto was wearing an oxygen mask. His skin was a bright, peeling red.

The pig-tailed blonde rushed inside, immediately setting to work, checking all vital signs, interrogating nurses about when they came in, and inspecting the damage done to both of them.

Though occupied, the hokage couldn't help but wonder wonder what happened to them... Rough training? Enemy ninja? Something else?

According to the nurses, the two had been brought in around five o'clock a.m. by an elderly couple who had been taking a morning stroll around the training grounds and seen them in Team 7's training field. They thought to yell for help. Medical ninja had arrived and taken them straight to the hospital.

Tsunade took Naruto's temperature. 109*F. (*= degrees) She was about to check Sakura's when she abruptly paused. 108*F? That only happened when he- Tsunade froze. Now she knew **exactly** what had happened.

The highly famed medical protégé scanned Sakura's medical chart. Two broken ribs, a broken leg, an extremely deep cut running down the length of her shin, angry burns and blisters cover most of her body, and plenty of bruises. All of the injuries pointed to one thing. Kyuubi.

Shadows. Pain. Fire. This was all Naruto was aware of. He floated on this bed of flames for seconds, hours, days, years. Who knew? Who cared? The pain would never let up, he knew. He slowly became aware of some of his senses. He drifted upward, trying to fight the darkness. Every part of his body willed him downward. It didn't hurt so much. The first and most painful sense he became aware of was touch. The only thing he could he could feel was fire. It raged through his body. When would it subside, he wondered idly.

He sooner or later became aware of something else. There were voices around him. Who were they? What did they want? What were they doing to him? Was Sakura- chan out there?

Sakura. The name brought memories back. The party. His whiskers. His revelation. The training field. Fire. Kyuubi. The memories lodged like a shard of ice in his heart. What had he done?

He felt himself fading from the painful present. Even as he tried to grasp onto this painful consciousness, slowly he slid into the smooth, deep abyss called unconsciousness.

Tsunade immediately set to work. Without Yamato to supervise Naruto's training- what was he doing out there?- Naruto must've lost control, somehow, and unleashed ti upon Sakura. Usually Sakura detested Naruto's all- night training sessions. What was she dong out there with him? Tsunade cleared this thought process and set to work before before any Jiraiya- like thoughts came to mind. She will just ask if he wakes up.

_If he wakes up. _ She pushed away the negative thought from her mind. She knew Sakura's injuries could be more serious, she was surprised she wasn't already dead. Tsunade set her nurses to work treating Sakura and she turned her attention to Naruto.

Sever burns covered his entire body. His skin only peeled off when he grew a third or fourth tail! She conjured some medical chakra and placed her glowing hands on his forehead. Her chakra, along with the Kyuubi's, helped partially heal Naruto's skin. The redness slowly receded and paled to a rash pink. She almost smiled in relief.

Then she heard it. A steady, high-pitched bee-eep. She whipped around to look at Sakura's heart rate. It was flat-lining. The hokage stood paralyzed with shock- her only student... dead?

Suddenly Sakura arched her back upwards, leaning back into her pillow. She retched and her face turned almost blue with the effort of trying to breathe. The heart monitor started to beep again, rapidly. Sakura made a gurgling noise and choked. She spit out blood. It bubbled out of her mouth and dribbled down her chin.

"It's her ribs! One of the broken ones pierced her lung!" cried out one of the nurses.

That snapped Tsunade out of her stupor. She immediately demanded to look at the X-rays and fired the person who had failed to notice that Sakura's lung was pierced.

"Your 'silly mistake' could cost her her life, you imbecile!" she yelled. With one hand she used her chakra to try to heal Sakura's ribs and pierced lung and with the other she looked at the X-rays to see how the ribs were aligned. One was almost diagonal- the one poking into Sakura' lung.

Tsunade found the rib and began inching it back into place with chakra- covered hands. Sakura screamed in her unconsciousness and spit a bit of blood flew out of her mouth.

When Tsunade reached up to brush away the sweaty hair that clung to her face, she realized that she was crying. It pained her very much to see her student in pain like this. This, she realized, was exactly why she had become a medical ninja, to protect those she loved. And, she also realized, she loved Sakura. Not only was she an excellent pupil, she excelled in most things others weren't able to do without getting impaled. Comforting her. Without the hokage's realization, Sakura had become like a daughter to her.

Tsunade placed the rib in proper position and began to suture into place using a chakra- threaded needle.

When she finished that she began on Sakura's broken leg. It wasn't a very bad break, besides the fact that it _was_ her leg that was broken. The blonde set to work with the needle.

Sakura stopped screaming now. Healing chakra usually had a calming effect on patients.

Tsunade wiped her brow, this ad been going on for hours. She was both physically and mentally exhausted. Sakura would be fine, hopefully now that her lung and leg was fixed. She could stay in her coma-like state for up to a week, though.

Naruto's future was less certain. The Nine-Tails' chakra was being held back by something in his system, and it was hurting him from the inside out. The chakra was not naturally sealed back into his body, but stopped from flowing throughout his body, burning his chakra coils.

Tsunade could not look into his body to check it out, as he was far too weak to handle it. Truthfully, he would never be strong enough to do that until it was over.

After making many careful calculations in her head, she decided it was now or never. She performed an incredibly complicated jutsu and placed her hands on Naruto's bare chest. His jacket and undershirt had both been discarded and they were almost incinerated to nothing, anyways.

Tsunade closed her eyes and saw what her jutsu was making her see through use of her chakra that she was sending through his body. His chakra coils. Sure enough, there was red chakra slowly burning into them. If this wasn't stopped withing 24 hour, she realized, the fiery chakra would break through and rampage throughout his entire body, engulfing him, and, ultimately, killing him.

Suddenly, the famed medical ninja noticed something she recognized. There was a thin, purple glow emanating from the chakra coils. She recognized it from a poison she had created herself. It had coated a select number of senbon, and enabled the user to stop all chakra flow throughout the body of an enemy.

She froze. She had given a certain pink-haired kunoichi a kunai that was of the unique batch. She remembered herself clearly giving instructions for her to only use it on someone she wanted to die.

This was sickeningly ironic. Two of the people Naruto held closest to him would be the death of him.

End of Chappie THREE! (:

Cliffie- Oooh! Not really, though, kinda... :/ Review, please, and warm the heart of a twelve year old girl! Heh, heh... Do not expect an update soon, cause you know you won't get one! Though, you, as much as I wish it would come soon! I'll just wait until some insanely awesome ideas pop into my twisted mind.


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